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Chapter 64
“I told you not to say things like that! You’re a mother—so don’t think about dying, think about living! Why can’t you understand no matter how many times I say it?!”
“Prince… Kanan…”
Even with her face covered in blood, Bella was smiling.
As if she were ready to let go at any moment.
No… I can’t let her go like this.
“Don’t say anything else. Think about Kanan! I’ll save you—so just hold on somehow!”
The light grew stronger—
But there wasn’t even a sliver of hope.
Unlike the words she spoke, Seiry knew the truth.
Even if she used an even greater light… even if she performed a miracle again…
It was too late.
There was no way to save Bella.
“Seiry… I’m glad… I saw you… at the end…”
Her strength slipped away.
Bella’s body went limp, heavy like soaked cotton.
“No…”
Her eyes closed.
Despite the wounds, her peaceful expression seemed to say she truly meant it—this was her end.
Bella’s life faded.
And the realization that there was nothing more she could do for her tore painfully through Seiry’s chest.
“Why… why would you say something like that at the end? Don’t you have anything else you want? Ask me to kill someone, complain—say anything! You lived such a miserable life!”
“I’ve always kept it all to myself… This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone. Hah… I feel so much lighter now.”
Bella had always been like that.
Unlucky her whole life—yet never complaining.
Someone warm, like sunlight.
If Seiry had ever had a family, she would have wanted someone like Bella.
Was that why… she cared for her so much?
Why she wanted to save her, even risking everything?
“Even though I couldn’t… Saintess… you must be happy. No—you will be.”
Bella’s words echoed endlessly in her mind.
“…You idiot.”
Whether human, god, or demon—
You could do something before death.
But after death—
No one could interfere.
That was a natural law across all realms.
Even ancient gods and demon kings were no exception.
Seiry bit her lip until it bled, barely holding back a scream.
“Seiry.”
Raiden and the imperial knights, who had followed her, stood frozen at the horrific scene.
“What… happened here…?”
“Kanan is safe. But Bella… I couldn’t save her.”
Seiry handed the unconscious Kanan to one of the knights.
The knight took him, but couldn’t even meet her eyes—frightened by her blood-covered appearance.
“I found out everything. The nobles planned to expose my identity on the day of the ceremony and kill both Bella and Kanan. After removing me, they intended to make Verdi the Grand Saintess. Thanks to that… Verdi is safe.”
Seiry looked like a doll without emotions.
“Then everything today… was planned? Where are they now? If they’re the same ones who tried to kill you before—”
“They’re all dead.”
“…!”
If the goal was to remove Seiry and put Verdi in power, the mastermind was obvious.
Count Mortika.
They knew he was ambitious—
But to plan the annihilation of the imperial family, including the emperor and crown prince…
Even Raiden hadn’t imagined something so extreme.
“…How dare they.”
Rage surged through him.
As Seiry moved to leave the sewer, Raiden grabbed her.
“Seiry—come back to the palace first. After that—”
She twisted her wrist free.
“I was never meant to be here from the beginning. I told you—the Grand Saintess act ends here.”
As she turned away coldly, Raiden shouted desperately:
“I don’t care what you are! You’re the one who fell into my territory. That means I decide where you belong!”
“…Do you really not care what I am?”
Seiry turned and looked straight at him.
The emotion in her red eyes—
Was it resentment? Doubt? Longing?
Raiden couldn’t tell.
“I don’t care. I never wanted a Saintess in the first place. You know that.”
“…”
“What I want isn’t a Saintess or a demon.”
“…It’s you, Seiry.”
Even if his words were a lie born from desperation—
She felt happy.
Maybe… she had always wanted to hear those words.
But that happiness quickly turned into discomfort.
The emperor had betrayed her.
Bella had died before her eyes.
Kanan had nearly died twice.
Reno and Verdi had also been targeted.
There was no reason left for her to stay.
Around them, the imperial knights stared at her—
As if she were something terrifying.
Not the same looks they had given her when she wore saintly robes.
Eyes that saw her as a monster.
So this is the real reaction.
She had never belonged here.
Like a snake coiled inside a rabbit hole—
There was no better way to describe it.
Suppressing her shattered emotions, Seiry spoke:
“Seiry—”
“Hah. I guess for an emperor like you, who wants revenge, something like race doesn’t matter.”
“Listen to me. At first… yes. I planned to use the Saintess to take revenge on the god and my father who made me this way. But not anymore. You changed me.”
“I won’t be fooled twice.”
Crack—!
The necklace Raiden had given her shattered.
Fragments scattered across the ground.
The emerald piece in her hand fell, lifeless.
Raiden’s empty gaze followed it.
Seiry let out a hollow laugh and turned away.
“Seiry, don’t go!”
His voice echoed through the sewer—
But she only grew more distant.
“You couldn’t corrupt me or drag me down…”
“But it looks like you still succeeded in one part of your plan.”
Those were her final words—
Before spreading her wings and flying into the sky.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Clink.
At the far western edge of the Lucerne Empire, in a small village—
The wooden door of a tavern that had stood for over 70 years creaked open.
“Welcome.”
“Hey, is she here again today?”
The owner smirked and pointed.
The man grinned.
“Nice.”
“You’ve got a lover, yet you come here every day to see another woman? She must be thrilled.”
“I’m just looking! Where else would you see someone like her in a place like this?”
Recently, the tavern had been unusually busy—thanks to customers like him.
The owner laughed.
“Business like this hasn’t happened since last year’s festival. Who needs a goddess? The one who brings me money is my goddess!”
They clinked their mugs.
The man’s gaze drifted to the window table.
The woman wore the same black dress every day—
Torn, burned, and worn.
People assumed she carried some untold story.
She had appeared four days ago—
And everything about her was strange.
“Same as yesterday? Raisins and wine?”
She nodded.
Without doing anything special, she drew attention.
Not just because of her looks—
But something else.
Yet the attention soon drifted away.
“I heard the chaos in the capital was because the Saintess turned out to be a demon.”
“A demon? Seriously?”
“They say she infiltrated the palace disguised as the Saintess. The emperor was almost killed.”
“What a terrifying world…”
“In a place like this, we’re safe. But you? You’d probably wet yourself if you saw a demon! Hahaha!”
Amid the laughter—
One person didn’t smile.
“…”
Seiry silently ate raisins.
She listened to their idle chatter.
Rumors spread just as fast here as in the demon realm… and get twisted just the same.
It had been nine days since she left the capital.
She had little appetite—
Surviving on fruits and raisins.
She bathed in remote lakes.
She helped people secretly, out of habit.
She slept in trees.
Her life was empty—
But her mind wasn’t.
Bella’s dying face kept replaying.
And she worried about Kanan.
He must know his mother is gone…
Did he cry?
Did someone comfort him… the way I would have…?
